Brian "Red" Hurley

Bands: Colours •
Wheels • Nevada • Red Hurley Band • Solo

Brian "Red" Hurley started on the scene in the
late 1960's but burst into stardom as the front man with The Nevada in 1971. He
had just replaced Roly Daniels who left the band to pursue a career in country
music and owned the early and mid 1970's as the
premier male vocalist in Ireland. In fact, all but a few of Red's singles made
the Irish Charts, a rare feat for any Irish artist.

Red started his singing career in 1969 as the very young lead
vocalist with The Colours. The band was formed
when the Jackpots Showband changed their name. The band had featured Jack Cooke as
its lead singer who, it was reported in the May 3rd issue of Spotlight,
had emigrated to Canada. Also joining the band was Bill Ward on trumpet. The band came
together around May of 1969 and Red cut his first record and had his first chart hit with A Poor Man's Roses (no.
14). From an issue of Spotlight from 28th June, an article publicizing Red's
first single mentioned that the Colour's lineup included Brian and Bill Ward on trumpet,
although in August another article said Brian was no longer with the band.

When the Colours were featured in the August
16, 1969 issue of Spotlight, it described Red as a former opera
singer who also played drums. In fact, Red had previously sung with
the Dublin Grand Opera Society. The article also stated that Red
would have been in a band much earlier, but he had been seriously
injured in a road accident.

In November, 1969 an article in Spotlight
announced the formation of a new band by the Tom Costello
Organization, The Wheels. Fronting the band would be Red,
along with members of the Airchords and the group Magazine. From the
Airchords came Dermot Ryan (sax), Arthur O'Neill (sax), Emmet Wynne
(trumpet), Myles Mooney (guitar) and Johnny Browne (bass). From
Magazine came Des Hickey (guitar) and Johnny (or Denis) O'Neill
(drums). With Wheels, Red released a few
more singles including, Isadora and Take Me Tonight,
both of which caused a minor stir on the scene and made it into the
lower reaches of the Irish Charts. Around this time, Red and the
band also took top honours in the Castlebar Song Contest with their
song, The World Is Such An Empty Place.

In late 1970, Liam Hurley left the Airchords
to join The Nevada Showband. A few months later, when Roly Daniels left the
band, Liam suggested his brother, Red, and together with "The Blonde Bombshell,"
Eileen "Kelly," Red Hurley and the Nevada took the country by
storm. The announcement that Red was leaving the Wheels to join the
Nevada came in the March 6, 1971 issue of Spotlight. After Red left the Wheels, Johnny Brown also left for
the new Billy Brown Superband. Before joining the Nevada, Red had been selected to
sing one of the entries in the Irish National Song Contest,
Going Away. He finished second to Angela Farrell's song, One Day
Love, and although the record didn't make the charts, the
experience helped establish him as one of the country's top vocalists.

Former band member, Tommy Hayden took over the
band's management and the Nevada dominated all the polls for top Pop
Band and vocalists in
the early 70's.

The same year (1971) Red had two major hits
with the Nevada, the number one hit, Sometimes in the summer of
that year and Kiss Me Goodbye which hit the charts just before
Christmas. This success would continue in 1972 as the band swept the
top spots in the Spotlight Awards winning for top male vocalist,
female vocalist and top band. In the late spring, Red released
Hold Me which went to number 3 in the Irish charts. The same year, the
band was the subject of a BBC documentary called The Best Years Of
Our Lives. 1973 was a good year for Red as his recording
of Arkansas reached number one in the Irish charts and the
band went from strength to strength.

Rumours of Red's unhappiness with the Nevada
started to surface in early 1974. Despite the success of the band,
Red wanted out and in various Spotlight articles around this time,
he said that he had wanted to leave the band at Easter, 1974. He was
unhappy with the band's image, as well as his financial standing as
he was "an employee" of the band. He went to the United States to be
with his girl friend for three weeks and this added fuel to the
rumours of his departure. It was reported that when he returned from
the States, he offered to stay with the band, but they did not take
him up on the offer and Glen Curtin was lured away from the New
Blues to replace Red in the Nevada. Red spent nearly three months
off the road while his involvement with the Nevada was finalized and
in August, 1974 he hit the road with his new band which was
advertised as Red Hurley and his All Stars.

Within weeks of Red's departure, Kelly also
left the Nevada to join Brendan Bowyer's Big Eight in Las Vegas. Red found top class musicians to back him
including several members of the Sands showband, who were undergoing
major personnel changes at the time. He was also joined by his
brother Liam, yet again, who eventually quit to focus on production
work. Red
and the band were instantly successful on the ballroom circuit and
Red continued his dominance as one of the top male vocalists in the
country. The lineup of the new band included Maurice Cooney
(bass-from Green County), Fran Dennis (trombone from Dickie's Band),

In
1976, Red hit the jackpot when his song, When was chosen to represent Ireland in the Eurovision song
contest. Although Red finished tenth, his performance was considered
one of the best of the evening and many have said he would have done
far better, but the contest was going through a period when up tempo
pop numbers seemed to carry the day. The contest was won by
Britain's Brotherhood of Man with their song, Save Your Kisses for
Me.

As the seventies came to a close, things
started to change on the ballroom scene. Country music broke to the
front of the pack and solo artists like Red started to lose a little
of their luster on the dance circuit and began turning to cabaret
and increasingly touring abroad, especially England, where they
could still pack them in.

Despite this, in an interview published in
Starlight Magazine in May 1979, Red was asked about moving into
television, to which he responded, "my main bread and butter is the
ballrooms, with a little cabaret as well, so I won't be breaking
with that." Little did Red (or anyone) know that within a few short
years the tables would be completely reversed. Also in 1979, Red
hooked up with another ex-Nevada star, Tina Reynolds, to sing Hiding Behind Our Smile
for the Irish National Song Contest, but
they finished a disappointing eighth. Happy Man for
Cathal Dunne was
the winner that year.

The early 1980's were a period of great
transition for Red, as well as many other showband stars. With
discos taking over the dancing scene, many bands folded, but not Red.
Like Dickie Rock, as the band scene slipped away, Red comfortably
moved to cabaret where he was able to keep his career going strong.

He is still very active on the entertainment scene today and plays
regular gigs both at home and abroad. He also plays regularly in
charity golf tournaments both in Ireland and the United States. The
picture above is Red at one such event in 2004. Red now spends
part of his year in the United States where he also has a home and
in 2007. he did a special with PBS which will saw him starring in
his own show and appearing on the network on St. Patrick's Day and
repeated later in the year. He also recently appeared on the Late
late Show with Pat Kenny and is still going strong after almost
forty years on the scene.